Night vision devices are image intensification apparatuses that amplify the night ambient illuminated view by a factor of approximately 10.sup.4. As used in aircraft, these devices usually take the form of goggles worn by the pilot. Night vision devices usually include a photocathode which converts photons into electrons, a multiplier, and a phosphor screen to convert electrons back into photons. The pilot therefore accordingly views the scene outside the aircraft as a phosphor image displayed in the goggle eyepiece. Cockpit lighting, of instruments, gauges and warning signals, must be "compatible" with the goggles, i.e., must not emit significant amounts of radiant energy in the range detected by the goggle, so as to avoid flaring and "blooming", resulting in erasure of the image, which occurs when a light source is inadequately filtered to remove a sufficient level of interfering radiation. Significant amounts of cockpit radiation in the goggle range can also result in shutdown of the goggle where automatic gain control is used. Therefore, cockpit instrumentation must emit limited amounts of red and very near infra-red (IR) radiation. Blue, blue-green and green glass filters have been used to modify emissions from light sources for this purpose.
The military Joint Logistics Commanders Ad Hoc Group for Aviation Lighting has promulgated specification MIL-L-85762A specifying night vision device-compatible lighting for aircraft interiors. In this standard, four colors have been defined for various cockpit lighting tasks. "NVIS (Night Vision Imaging System) Green A" is for primary, secondary and advisory lighting. Utilizing the 1976 CIE Convention Green A has coordinates of a circle of radius 0.037, with the center at u'=0.088, v'=0.543. "NVIS Green B" is for special lighting components needing saturated (i.e., more nearly monochromatic) lighting for contrast Green B has a radius of 0.057 with the center at u'=0.131, v'=0.623. "NVIS Yellow" is used for master caution and warning signals, and has a radius of 0.083 with the center at u'=0.274, v'0.622. "NVIS red" for warning signals is defined as u'=0.450, v'=0.550 with a radius at 0.060. These color spaces are set forth in FIG. 7; it is noted that the 1976 CIE convention values of u' and v' may be converted to the 1931 CIE convention values as follows: ##EQU1##
Lighting emission in these colors visible to the NVIS is specified by the standard not to exceed certain levels defined for "radiance". NVIS radiance (NR) is the integral of the curve generated by multiplying the spectral radiance of the light source by the relative spectral response of the NVIS: ##EQU2## where G.sub.r is the relative NVIS response, N is the spectral radiance of the lighted component in W/cm.sup.2 Sr nm, S is the ratio of required luminescence level for NVIS radiance defined by luminescence measured by the spectroradiometer, and d.lambda. is 5 nm. The military NR standard requires that displays not exceed 1.7.times.10.sup.-10 when the lighting produces 0.1 fL display luminance. Warning and master caution signals may be brighter, at levels of between 5.0.times.10 and 1.5.times.10.sup.-7 with source luminance levels of up to 15 fL. for Class A Type I goggles.
Significant variations in NVIS radiance and color coordinates are common in filtered incandescent lighted devices. The primary cause is the relationship of these parameters to the spectral energy distribution of the light source(s). The energy distribution of an incandescent lamp is fundamentally related to filament operating temperature. Filament temperature varies strongly with operating voltage, and also varies somewhat from lamp to lamp due to minor differences in filaments.
Filtered light sources which meet the above criteria must also be visible in daylight conditions. Consequently, filters must possess acceptable "photopic transmission", a measure of visual readability of displays in which a light source is filtered for NVIS compatibility. The value of photopic transmission is calculated by an integration from 380 to 780 nm considering eye response, glass transmission, and radiance of the source, divided by eye response times unfiltered source radiance. The integration is usually performed at 5 to 10 nm increments. Typical procedures for the calculation of transmission values are set forth in the Handbook of Colorimetry, Technology Press, MIT, 1936 pp. 33-35.